Tarceva Has Stopped Working

I was diagnosed oct 05 with stage 1v lung cancer
I went on tarceva and had great results with a 50% shrinkage in my right lung.
Now 10 months later the tarceva has stopped working and there is a growth in the tumor in my right lung. The ones in my left and lymph are still holding
They now want me to try a new drug called hki which is ment to kick in where tarceva kicked out
Has anyone tried this drug
And if so how are you geting on and what are the side effects
Thank you
Lets all stay strong.......mary

Hki-272

HKI-272 is a promising new experimental drug. The only way to get this drug is to be enrolled in a clinical trial.
The trial you are being enrolled in can be found here:
http://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT00266877
This is a phase 2 clinical trial. The purpose of phase 2 trials is to learn if the drug is safe (side effects) and useful (does it kill cancer cells). Your enrollment in this study will help to uncover any side effects, so that future HKI-272 patients will know what side effects to expect. There are no previous completed studies on this drug to tell us the side effects. You are a pioneer. Your experiences will help write the book on what the side effects are.
There are a total of 5 clinical trials on HKI-272 so far. two trials are for breast cancer of which one is still recruiting patients. one unstarted trial will check for drug interaction with ketoconazole. one trial is giving the drug to healthy subjects. the trial you are in is testing the drug on lung cancer.
perhaps you will be asked to keep a list of any side effects you get, and to report them to your doctor for him to include in a report back to the principle investigators.
personal commentary:
notice that one of the trials is giving the drug to healthy volunteers. if this drug caused any serious side effects, they would not be allowed to give it to healthy volunteers. not only would it be unethical to do so, but it would be against the law.
i am a nobody, i cannot guarantee you anything, but my gut feeling is that you will have few or no side effects, and that the primary issue instead will be how well does this drug fight lung cancer and for how long.
in my search to find an answer for you, everything i have come across has been favorable in that department - this drug looks very promising. i would review the mechanism of action of this drug, but this note is already too long, and i would doubt anyone is still reading. good luck to you! :-)
-Amnia

Good Advice From Doctors and Keep us Posted

My mom is taking Tarceva, and your results mimic our fears. That being said HKI-272 (drug is from Wyeth) has shown promise with dealing with what is known as the "Secondary Mutation" or as I like to call it secondary resistance. Based on my reading (and let me caution you, I am not a doctor), your cancer cells became Tarceva resistant by effectively growing a tail. What the HKI drug does is bind to this tail whereby it falls off permantly. I have asked on several occasions whether anyone is taking this drug, and you are the first to respond yes (although not to my posting).
Here are some posts of mine and some articles. Also note that there are more than 50 cancer centers doing clinical trials on this drug, (sounds to me like they have a hunch this is going to work!) Good luck and G-d Bless
http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/message/single,5235,1.htm
http://www.medscape.com/medline/abstract/15897464?prt=true
http://www.mgh.harvard.edu/cancer/care/adult/thoracic/developments.asp

Tarceva

My mom, too, was on tarceva for stage 4 lung cancer with mets to her liver. Tarceva only worked for her for about 3 months when her liver showed signs of new growth. Now her doctor has her on fairly new chemo treatment (Alimta) and she continues to take Tarceva daily. This has been a successful treatment thus far (she started the chemo again in late July), but she suffers from the usual side effects which leave her feeling pretty awful for quite a while after crasing from the steroids. Also, everything I've read about Alimta says that it too will stop working sooner that not. Has anyone been put back on chemo after Tarceva?
God bless all of you!

Stopped Worhing Here Too

I was dx with nscl cancer in 2004. Had surgery to remove part of the lung, staged 2 because it was in 1 lymph node. did 4 rounds chemo and 3 months later it was in both lungs. On Tarceva for almost 17 months before the cancer mutated. Now I'm waiting for a trial at Mayo, Phase 1 of 2 new drugs, one similar to Tarceva and a second pill to kill the bloos vessels of the tumors. Where are you getting into the HKI 272 trial. I have read about that and it seems promising too. Wish there was someone to tell us what to do, sometimes I'm overwhelmed with all the decisions to be made and they are so centered around life and death. I am praying both of us make the right decisions. Good luck.

Hki-272

Let's keep the discussion going on HKI-272. I was Diagnosed with NSCLC bronchoalveolar cell carcinoma in October 2005. Gemcytabine/Carboplating IV chemo failed.HKI is a wonderful glimmer of hope for me and some of you cancer survivors who post to this site. I have been on Tarceva since December 2005. First CT scans showed improvement, next two showed the cancer was hardly even detectable. I am having anxiety because I'm going back for my first CT scan/oncology check up in 4 months! I have been living the last four months as if I am perfectly fine. I am hoping the scans will back up my thinking.
Then if that darned "secondary mutation" dares to happen, I hope HKI will be available. I wish for hope and peace to all cancer survivors and their families.
Tina

Dana Faber

thank you for your good wishes
i am in treatment at dana faber in boston.
i start the new drug on oct 19 after a day of scans and tests. I will keep you all posted on what happens.
thank you all for your input